Judge Aileen Cannon defends her judicial independence and says she’s never met Trump

By CNN Newsource

Published October 29, 2024 2:05 pm

By Holmes Lybrand, CNN

(CNN) — Judge Aileen Cannon is refusing to recuse herself from the criminal case against the man accused of trying to assassinate Donald Trump, saying she has no relationship with the former president who nominated her to the federal bench and that she doesn’t control what he says about her.

In her ruling Tuesday, Cannon said she has never spoken with Trump or met him, and she has no concerns over the “political consequences of my rulings.”

Attorneys for Ryan Routh, who prosecutors say set up a sniper’s nest outside of Trump’s golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, argued that Cannon’s dismissal of the criminal case against Trump over his handling of classified documents could create the appearance of partiality in their client’s case where Trump is the alleged victim.

Routh’s attorneys noted the many instances when Trump has praised Cannon by name for her decision to toss the documents case, including during his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention this summer.

“I have no control over what private citizens, members of the media, or public officials or candidates elect to say about me or my judicial rulings,” Cannon wrote Tuesday.

Defense attorneys argued that if Trump were to win the 2024 presidential race, he could elevate Cannon to a higher court, something that might influence her in this case.

But Cannon insisted she is not “concerned about the political consequences of my rulings or how those rulings might be viewed by ‘some in the media.’”

“I have never spoken to or met former President Trump except in connection with his required presence at an official judicial proceeding, through counsel,” Cannon wrote. “I have no ‘relationship to the alleged victim’ in any reasonable sense of the phrase. I follow my oath to administer justice faithfully and impartially, in accordance with the Constitution and the laws of this country.”

Cannon said she would not entertain the “speculation” from Routh’s attorneys and noted that the case was randomly assigned to her, just like Trump’s classified documents case.

“This case, like the prior cited cases involving former President Trump, were randomly assigned to me through the Clerk’s random case assignment system. Period. I will not be guided by highly inaccurate, uninformed, or speculative opinions to the contrary,” Cannon wrote.

Special counsel Jack Smith is currently appealing Cannon’s dismissal of the documents case.

Cannon also rejected the defendant’s attempt to call into question her relationship with one of the prosecutors on the case, noting that despite attending the prosecutor’s wedding, she currently has no personal relationship with him.

“I maintained a professional friendship with the stated prosecutor during my time as a prosecutor (2013–2020), as I did with other colleagues within the United States Attorneys’ Office. As part of that professional friendship, I attended his wedding nearly a decade ago. I maintain no ongoing personal relationship with the prosecutor, nor have I communicated with him in years,” she said.

Routh’s trial is currently set for February.